Panik powers Chicago
Richard Panik scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period, lifting the Chicago Blackhawks to a 2-1 victory over the host Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
Panik scored on the power play on a one-timer off a pass from Patrick Kane with 3:01 remaining. Duncan Keith also scored and Scott Darling made 33 saves to help the Blackhawks get their second straight win.
Kyle Turris scored for Ottawa, and Mike Condon finished with 26 saves as the Senators squandered a chance to move in to first place in the Atlantic Division.
The Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead at 8:04 of the third as Keith's shot eventually found its way across the goal line.
Condon made the initial save on the shot but the rebound bounced off a collection of bodies in front of the net before crossing the goal line.
Turris tied it on a onetimer from the right side on a power play with 8:37 remaining.
The puck beat a screened Darling over the shoulder with Bobby Ryan on top of the crease.
For two periods the defense and goaltending were the stories as neither team was able to score despite combining for 43 shots on goal.
The Senators had 21 shots on Darling through the first two periods but another 23 were blocked by Blackhawks skaters. On the other side, Condon made 22 saves while his teammates blocked 10 additional shots.
Condon's best save was a glove grab off Artemi Panarin in the second after Senators forward Derick Brassard tried to clear the puck behind the goal but it bounced off the side of the net right to Panarin in the slot.
The Senators had backto-back power plays late in the second as Marian Hossa was called for holding just eight seconds after Marcus Kruger finished serving his interference penalty.
Ottawa had two shots on each of those power plays with no luck. Cody Ceci had no luck either as he was staring at a wide-open net from the faceoff circle but the puck jumped over his stick.
Morgan Rielly and Matt Martin scored 15 seconds apart during Toronto's four-goal second period, Frederik Andersen made 33 saves and the Maple Leafs moved into the lead for the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot with a 5-0 victory over the host Tampa Bay Lightning.
Roman Polak, Connor Brown and James van Riemsdyk also scored for Toronto, which was coming off a 7-2 loss Tuesday night at Florida.
The Maple Leafs hold a one-point advantage over Tampa Bay and York Islanders.
Tampa Bay, 12-3-3 over its last 18 games, pulled Andrei Vasilevskiy six minutes into the second after he allowed four goals on 15 shots. The goalie had gone 6-0-1 over his previous seven games. the New
Zach Werenski and Josh Anderson scored 3:26 apart in the second period to lead host Columbus to a 2-1 victory over Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 33 saves for his NHL-leading 38th win to help Columbus pull two points behind Washington in the race for the league’s best record.
The Blue Jackets have won six of their last eight games. Jonathan Marchessault scored with 1:45 left in the first period for Florida, which lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
Columbus tied it with 4:05 left in the second when Werenski's shot from the far left side of the ice beat goalie James Reimer. Anderson, who had an assist on Werenski's goal, then put the Blue Jackets ahead with 39 seconds left in the second period.